


Leave Right Now

by IveGotRedHair



Category: All Time Low
Genre: Coughing, Fever, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:01:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5663764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IveGotRedHair/pseuds/IveGotRedHair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's surprising how you can go from being in love to not seeing each other for weeks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave Right Now

It had been weeks since they’d seen each other, it was surprising how quickly you could go from being in love with someone to not seeing them for days. It was Zack who’d ended it, he’d been the one to call Jack out, to pull the plug on their relationship and try to move on. In the weeks since he’d tried not to think of Jack, the boy’s whose heart he broken but the boy with dark hair kept seeping back into his mind. And as the days got shorter Zack found himself seeing things that reminded him of Jack more and more, maybe it was the feel of Christmas on the horizon or because it was just the time of year to miss people. 

Though as time continued to move on the last place Zack expected to be reminded of his past boyfriend was a grocery store. It was late on a weekday and Zack was just picking up some things on his way home from the gym when he caught sight of something familiar. It was one of his old hoodies, he recognised the fated logo of his old school and the fraying of the sleeves to due to the way Jack used to put them in his mouth… It wasn’t just any hoodie it had been Jack’s favourite so when they broke up Zack had left it with him. So standing there at the other end of the ale was Jack himself, huddled up in a hoodie way too big for his small frame, a beanie cramped over his dark hair and looking the same as Zack remembered.   
Zack smiled at the sight of the boy, it might have been weeks but it was still glad to know he was okay. He decided it was best to leave Jack alone to own business so Zack began to walk away, he didn’t think it was fair to remind Jack of them and their time together. He was just about to turn the corner and leave Jack behind when he was stopped by the sound of coughing from behind him. Zack knew it could have been anyone, they weren’t alone in the store but he still looked and there was Jack, coughing so hard he was barely staying standing. Before he was even aware he was doing it Zack found himself walking back down the ale and placing his hand on Jack’s back, trying to help the poor boy calm his breathing. As Jack began to regain control Zack could have escaped, walked away before Jack even knew it was him but he didn’t.   
“Hmm thanks,” Jack croaked, his eyes moving up to see Zack, the surprise evident when he realised who it was.   
“Are you okay?” Zack asked, skipping a simple hello and going straight for the important question.   
“Fine,” Jack sniffed.   
Expect on closer inspection Jack looked anything but fine; his skin was washed out and pale with the exception of his red raw nose and slightly blushed cheeks, there were dark marks beneath his eyes and he shivered despite the warmth of the hoodie.   
“Are you sure?” Zack questioned.   
He’d dated Jack for nearly three years, he knew him too well. Jack has the terrible habit of not taking care of himself, he’d keep going till he passed out and even then he’d probably forget to drink.   
Jack tries to answer but ends up coughing again, not as bad as before but still enough to send a pang of worry through Zack’s heart.   
“Okay, let’s get you out of here.”  
Deciding he has to do something Zack takes a couple of the medicine packets Jack had been staring at and throws them in his own basket. He then takes Jack’s wrist and starts leading him toward the till.   
“What are you doing?” Jack protested though weakly.   
“Making sure you don’t kill yourself,” Zack replied, placing the items on the till.   
Jack just sniffed and stood out of the way, he was too sick to argue and if it meant getting back to his bed faster then he was all for it. Zack paid for all the items, including Jack’s medicine before they left the store together. After giving Jack his much needed medicine he was ready to say goodbye, deciding he’d probably intruded in Jack’s life enough and the boy was probably ready to see the back of him.   
“See you around then Ja…”   
His words were cut short when Jack who’d been standing next to him was suddenly on his knees. Zack managed to grab him as the boy went limp in his arms.   
“Shit.”   
He stood up with Jack still in his arms, totally unsure of what to do. Jack had passed out probably due to the fever Zack could feel through his clothes. He needed bed and fluids and he needed them now, so that left Zack with only one option. He shuffled Jack in his arms so he was carrying him like a bride on her wedding day and began the walk back to his apartment. 

When Jack woke up he didn’t know where he was. Wherever it was it wasn’t his home, he wasn’t lying in his bed and there were sounds of rather person where Jack lived alone. He cracked an eye open to try and see but the light only made his headache worse. God he’d never felt so ill, everything hurt, all the way from his stuffed up nose to aching chest and just about everything in between. He groaned rolling over forgetting for a moment he wasn’t in his own bed and nearly falling off the couch, which of course triggered a coughing fit.   
Zack came into the sound of dying and to see Jack half falling off the couch as he tried to keep his lungs inside his body. Zack was quick to wrap an arm around him and help him probably sit up so he could breathe again.   
“You okay?” Zack asked, his hand still on Jack’s back.  
Jack nodded, trying to remember how exactly he ended up on his ex boyfriend’s couch.   
“How’d I get here?” he asked.   
“You passed out so I brought you back to my apartment, I hope that’s alright,” Zack replied.   
“I passed out?”   
“Yeah, you’re running a pretty high fever.”   
“Oh..”   
Jack’s sniffed not sure what to say next, he’d passed out and been brought back to his ex’s apartment. An ex he wasn’t even close to getting over.   
“Do you need anything? Water? Your medicine?” Zack offered.   
“Medicine probably wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Jack coughed.   
Zack nodded and disappeared off toward the kitchen. He’d always been protective of Jack and it seemed those feelings hadn’t gone away. He returned and found Jack shivering, the oversized hoodie pulled around his slim body.   
“Here you are.”  
Zack handed Jack the box of medicine and a glass of water to wash away the taste. Jack gave a weak thanks before pouring out a shot of medicine and quickly downing it, his face scrunching in disgust.   
“Never tastes any better huh?” Zack commented.   
Jack shook his head and swallowed a few mouthfuls of water.   
“Need anything else?” Zack asked.   
Jack couldn’t help wondering why Zack was being so kind to him, after all he’d been the one that had ended their relationship. It had been Zack that broken his heart and left him with a hole in his heart so big he thought he’d never put himself back together. Jack wanted to ask, wanted to ask what the hell was going on but his body wouldn’t allow it.   
“Tired,” Jack ended up mumbling, his eyes already closing.   
“Sleep, it’s alright, you’re safe here.”   
Jack tried to fight it but it was no good, all his energy was gone. Just as he fell asleep he swore he felt Zack place a blanket around him but he could have been imagining it, Zack didn’t care about him anymore. 

With Jack asleep again Zack didn’t have much else to do by sit by his side. He’d already put his shopping away and flicked through the rubbish on tv but his eyes kept going back to Jack. He remembered the day all too well when he’d ended things, when he decided the relationship was no longer working and he wanted out. He’d probably never forgot the look in Jack’s eyes when he told him he didn’t love him anymore. That wasn’t true though, he had loved him, he just couldn’t carry on the way they were. The truth was he’d always loved Jack.   
Zack was half way though a game of Angry Birds, his hand running through Jack’s tangled hair, not even aware he was doing it when Jack stirred. He hummed quietly before coughing as he struggled to sit up. Zack couldn’t help feeling guilty, Jack shouldn’t be in such a mess, he needed someone to look for him.  
“You okay?” he asked, watching as Jack flopped back against the couch, looking even more exhausted than before.   
“Yeah, great,” Jack mumbled, rubbing his eyes.   
“Look if you need you can stay here tonight, I don’t mind really and I don’t want to make you sicker than you are.”   
Jack shook his head, stifling a few sneezes in his.. Zack’s hoodie sleeve.   
“No, I’m going to go,” he said.   
“Are you sure?” Zack asked.   
“Yes,” Jack snapped, as forcefully as he could with his wrecked voice.   
“Okay… I just wanted to help.”   
“I think you’ve helped enough,” Jack said, pushing the blanket away and pulling himself up on shaky feet.   
“Did I do something wrong?” Zack asked, confused by Jack’s outburst.   
“Did you do something wrong? I… I…”   
Jack couldn’t finish his sentence, he looked scared and ill, Zack wished he understood what was going on.   
“I’ve got to leave right now,” Jack said, heading for the door.   
“Jack, wait!”   
“What?”   
“I’m sorry.”   
Jack turned away, trying hard to blink away the tears that were clouding his eyes. He couldn’t do this, he just couldn’t. He had to get out.   
“Goodbye Zack.”   
He went to grab the door handle but he felt Zack take his wrist.   
“Jack?”   
“I’ve got to leave right, before it breaks me all over again. I still love you and I can’t do this.”   
As Jack’s words sunk in Zack let go, letting Jack slip through his fingers once again. Jack opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.   
Zack just stood staring at the back of the door, this time Jack had been the one to walk away but it hadn’t hurt any less. He’d fallen so easily back to in them, into looking after Jack and having the boy by his side. For the first time in long time things had left right again but he’d let Jack go again. 

Jack had only got to the end of the hallway before he’d had to stop. He was leant against the wall as he tried to breathe, he was too ill for this. He really should be in bed or even on a couch but he couldn’t go back. There was no way he could be friends with Zack, he loved him too much, he just had to walk away before his heart got broken all over again. Jack ended up sinking to the floor, exhausted, ill and broken.   
“Jack?”   
There was the sound of running footsteps and soon Zack was kneeling beside him.   
“Come back to my place, you’re in no condition to get home,” he said.   
Jack shook his head.   
“Please, I don’t want to lose you again.”   
Before Jack could reply he was struck with another coughing fit. Zack helped him stand up and slowly lead him back to his apartment. He left Jack on the couch and went to fetch him some water to help with his breathing.   
“Better?” Zack asked.   
“Yeah.. God I feel awful.”   
“I’m sorry you’re ill and I’m just well sorry for everything, for fucking things up with us, for hurting you, for walking away instead of trying to fix things.”   
“Does that mean…”   
Jack couldn’t finish the sentence, he didn’t dare to hope.   
“That I still love you? Jack, I’ve loved you since you’re were 13, you think I could stop now?”   
“I love you too.” 

The newly reformed couple heading up spending their first night back together curled up on Zack’s couch. Jack was still ill as hell and had to keep taking medicine every few hours just to keep from boiling his brains. They were halfway through watching some Pixar movie when Zack asked something that he’d been thinking about.   
“So why were you wearing my old hoodie?”   
“Because it reminded me of you,” Jack replied.   
“Well you’ve got me now,” Zack said, smiling.   
“Yeah, suppose I don’t need this anymore.”  
Jack stripped off the garment and threw it across the room, so he was left in just a t shirt. Expect he wasn’t shivering, he had the strong arm of his boyfriend wrapped around him instead and there’s all he ever needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!   
> Happy 2016!   
> I promised I'd be back and well here I am. I thought I'd start out with something a bit different and it's been ages since I wrote Merrikat.   
> I know it's a bit similar to Missing You but I put a bit a of a twist on it so I hope it's not to samey.   
> As always thanks for reading :) xx


End file.
